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How to Download Google Maps for Offline Adventures

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We know that going outside is good for us. But going outside in a new place can be intimidating if you don’t know where you’re going.

Most of us rely on mobile phone apps to navigate in new places. But that doesn’t always work as well as expected. That’s especially true in areas that have poor mobile phone service. Fortunately, Google Maps can now be downloaded to your phone for offline use.

In the short video that is embedded below I demonstrate how to download Google Maps for offline use.

As I wrote last week, if you’re going for a hike in an area that you don’t know, I still recommend taking along a paper map and compass. You never know when that cell phone you’re relying on will go kaput, but it usually happens when you need it the most.

Go outside, it’s good for you.

It’s a great way to improve your mood.

Awesome Google Maps Updates for Going Outside

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Google Maps has some updates available now and in the coming weeks that can help you enjoy the outdoors this spring and summer. Going outside is good for you and these updates are also good for you.

Download Maps of U.S. National Parks

When I was in my 20’s and exploring some national parks on my own with a map and compass it was both amazing and sometimes nerve-wracking to be completely offline. Thankfully, you can still get that experience today because huge swaths of some National Parks don’t have cell phone coverage.

If you’re not handy with a map and compass (or a GPS unit), you can now download Google Maps of National Parks to save on your phone. Google says this feature will be rolling out over the next couple of weeks. I already have the option when viewing Acadia National Park on my Pixel 5.

Note, I still wouldn’t go out offline without a map and compass because you never know when something will go wrong with your phone.

Popular Trails and Attractions

I’m the kind of person who generally prefers to find the less-popular trails in a National Park. That said, sometimes there are good reasons why a trail or attraction is popular and I do have to go see what all the fuss is about. The latest update to Google Maps makes it easy to find popular trails, trailheads, and attractions in National Parks.

Now when you use the Google Maps app to find trails in National Parks you’ll see complete trails. The trail maps include information about their relative difficulty and type of trail (hiking, running, bicycling). The trail maps also include pictures contributed by Google Maps users.

Popular attractions in National Parks are now featured in Google Maps as images with related visitor information.

Find Tricky Trailheads

In an update coming later this month, Google Maps will now provide step-by-step directions for locating trailheads in National Parks. The old grump in me sees this as a good and bad thing. It’s good it might help more people experience some cool trails. It’s bad in that it might bring more traffic to some trails that might not be able to handle it.

Go Outside, It’s Good For You!

I hope these Google Maps updates help more people go outside and experience some cool things in National Parks. Remember, going outside is good for.

Go Outside, It’s Good For You!

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Last fall an old colleague of mine sent me a note that said, “keep posting your pictures of bike rides to break up the monotony of LinkedIn.” So I did. Then as fall turned into winter I started posting pictures of skiing.

Somewhere along the way I started writing “Go outside. It’s good for you.” whenever I posted my pictures of bike rides, skiing, dog walks, and other outdoor activities. Then I started to notice a trend that those posts were the ones getting the most engagement on Twitter and LinkedIn (my Instagram and Facebook are private these days).

I didn’t start posting those pictures and that prompt to get social media engagement. I really started doing it to break-up the tedium of scrolling through a LinkedIn feed filled with “I’m happy to announce…” and other self-aggrandizing posts. I put the posts on Twitter as an exercise in reminding myself to step away from the screen and go outside.

Reset Your Brain

On Wednesday I had an absolutely craptastic start to my day. Yesterday, I had a great start to my day but it went to poop around 8am. Both we’re caused by things out of my control. Both days could have been completely derailed by those things out of my control. In fact, they were.

What got both days back on track was going outside for a while. First, I took the dogs for a walk. That helped a little bit. Then later in the day I went for long bike rides (thanks to my awesome partner for watching the kids).

A silver bicycle in the foreground. An old white barn in the distance across a snow-covered field.
Stop and enjoy the view when you can.

Going outside doesn’t instantly make me forget about the things that are bugging me. But if I give it fifteen or twenty minutes I’ll find that my mind begins to wander. After thirty minutes I’m reset. After sixty minutes I’ve almost forgotten what was bugging me earlier in the day.

But I Don’t Want to Go Outside

I have an old friend who is fond of sarcastically saying, “Maine is cold, but at least it’s a wet cold.” There are plenty of days when it would be physically more comfortable to stay inside. However, it’s a bear for my mental health to do that. So I bundle up and go outside because it’s good for me.

We make our kids do the same even though they sometimes fight it. Take a look at the picture below. They were having fun when I took that picture. They were not having fun, nor were their parents, when that outing started. Fifteen minutes into the outing it started to become fun. Thirty minutes into it and they didn’t want to get back in car. That’s a pattern with my kids.

You never know what you’ll find in the woods in the winter. We found fun!

Outside is Outside

I live in a place where outdoor recreation opportunities abound. There’s a ski mountain 20 minutes from my house and two more within 45 minutes (heck, I can see one from my backyard). I can ride my bike on logging roads and quiet back roads from my house all the way to Canada if I choose. But I don’t have to do those things to get the therapeutic effect of going outside.

I take no credit for what grows in the garden. I just make the boxes.

When I’m in a city or suburb for work, I still get the same therapeutic effect of going outside. I get it by going outside. I have a fantastic ability to get completely turned around in cities even when using Google Maps on my phone. I embrace it and just walk for a while. And when that’s not possible I walk around the same block for a while. Case in point, a few weeks ago I walked laps around the outside of the O’Hare Hilton (BTW, you will get some strange looks from the doorman and security people if you do that).

Walk, Run, Ride, or Hippity Hop!

I find that when it comes to getting the therapeutic effects of going outside it doesn’t matter if I walk, run, ski, hike, ride a bike, or bounce on a hippity hop ball. It’s all movement and it’s all good.

I asked Google Bard for the benefits of going outside and it basically paraphrased this Piedmont article for me. In short, going outside for exercise is better for your brain than staying inside and you’re more likely to continue an exercise habit if it’s outside rather than inside.

Go Outside. It’s Good For You!

Stop reading this.

Go outside.

It’s good for you.

Glade Optics Fathom Goggles Review

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After almost seven years my trusty Smith I/O ski goggles were starting to show signs of aging. So about half way through this ski season I started shopping for some new goggles.

The problem I ran into in shopping for new ski goggles was one that I think most avid skiers who also have young kids can relate to. That problem was budget! The last time I shopped for ski goggles I didn’t have budget constraints like I do now because I didn’t have kids back then. This time around I had my daughters’ college funds to consider as I shopped for goggles.

While I would have liked to just go and buy another pair of Smiths, it just wasn’t in the budget this time. On Instagram, my partner came across a brand that I hadn’t heard of before. That brand was Glade Optics.

I was intrigued by Glade Optics because they’re based in Breckenridge, Colorado and appear to have an actual physical presence in the U.S. even though the goggles are made elsewhere. The other intriguing thing is that they weren’t priced ridiculously low like some knock-off brands you’ll find on Amazon, but they weren’t as expensive as the goggles I was replacing (you won’t find Glade on Amazon at all).

Glade Optics also offered a pro discount for people who work in the ski industry. I submitted the requisite paperwork to prove that I actually am a ski instructor working at a ski mountain. About a week later I got an email from Glade Optics inviting me into the pro program. The discount offered was significant and I was able to purchase a pair of Glade Optics Fathom goggles for well under $100.

Unboxing the Glade Optics Fathom Goggles

I ordered Glade Optics Fathom goggles and they arrived in the mail within a couple of days. I opted for the “team edition” Fathom goggles because I wanted the darkest lens option and because the team edition comes with a free goggle case (a $25 product on its own).

The goggles were delivered in the goggle case inside a sturdy cardboard box. Within the case there was a goggles with the dark lens installed. A lighter lens to use on cloudy days was also in the case inside a cloth sleeve.

This is a good time to note that I chose the Glade Optics Fathom goggles over the Glade Optics Adapt 2 goggles because I prefer to swap lenses rather than rely on photochromic lenses to adapt to changing light conditions. I’ve had some less-than-good experiences with photochromic lenses while mountain biking which has made me timid about trying them in other settings.

First Impressions on the Snow

“Whoa! These are dark!” was what I said the first time I put on the Glade Optics Fathom goggles with the dark lens installed. It wasn’t a super bright day when I put them on, but it also wasn’t what I would call a dark day. I’m sure there is some scientific method to measure how dark the lens is. I don’t know what that method is so I’ll just say the dark lens felt like it was blocking a lot of light.

Skiing down for the first time with Glade Optics Fathom goggles on I immediately noticed some wind noise that I hadn’t noticed before. I stopped and adjusted the placement of the goggle strap and the noise persisted. On the next run I adjusted the strap again and the noise went away.

The wind noise must have been due to the fact that my helmet from Smith is made to mesh with Smith optics without any futzing around. The same is not true when using another manufacturer’s goggles. Not a big deal at all, it’s just something to be aware of.

Three Days of Powder and Changing Light!

After getting them I wore my Glade Optics Fathom goggles for every ski lesson that I taught. Wearing the goggle while teaching on the magic carpet and beginner terrain isn’t quite the same test as wearing them while charging through glades covered in 20″ of fresh snow!

Last week I got three full days of skiing at Jay Peak in Vermont. It snowed a few inches every day that we were there. It also snowed 20″ the night before we got there. To say that we hit it right is an understatement. It was freaking fantastic skiing!

On Wednesday it was quite overcast and snow was falling while we were skiing over the bumps and through the glades. I wore the light lens that came with my Glade Optics Fathom goggles. Swapping lenses was super easy because the lenses attach to the frame magnetically. There isn’t any fidgeting with tricky tabs or weaving the lens through a slot in the frame to worry about. While I did take my gloves off to swap lenses, I bet that I can do it with my gloves on if I have to.

On Thursday we woke up to sunshine at Jay Peak! I swapped the light lens for the dark lens on my goggles. The dark lens was the perfect choice. Never once did I have any problems picking up shadows or weird undulations in the terrain while wearing the dark lens. Equally important, I never felt any eye strain from glare off the snow.

Me and my buddy who is retired and would prefer to stay off the Internet.

In the afternoon on Thursday the clouds rolled in quite quickly. Unfortunately, I had left my light lens back in the condo we were renting. I could have gone back, but I didn’t want to miss any time on the slopes. That was a mistake because on one particularly dark run I couldn’t pick up any of the undulations in the slope. I checked up and told my buddy to go slow and I’d follow him until we got out of the clouds. He did.

Friday we woke to mostly clear skies. I chose to go with the dark lens again. It worked out well in light that I would call flat. It wasn’t bright, but it wasn’t dark either. Once again the dark lens performed well and I was able to pick up all of the nuances of the surfaces we skied including glades and high-speed groomers.

Bottom Line

For the price, I don’t think you’ll find a better pair of ski goggles than what Glade Optics offers. Like any ski goggle, after lens quality the fit is what matters most. Glade does have a 30 day return/ exchange policy with free shipping both ways so that you get the goggles that fit you best.

Lessons Learned from Skiing With My Six-Year-Old

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My oldest daughter is six years old. She has been skiing since she was two. One of her favorite shirts to wear these days is this one that has “life is better on the slopes” printed on it. In short, she loves to ski. So when her elementary school was unexpectedly closed on Monday we headed out to ski. But we went to a new-to-her mountain. That’s where the challenge and learning began.

We usually ski at Mt. Abram because it’s a small, local mountain that really caters to families. We also go there because I work there on the weekends and get free passes for the family. Unfortunately, it’s only open Thursday through Sunday. So on Monday we headed to Pleasant Mountain.

It was my daughter’s first ever visit to Pleasant Mountain and my first visit in seventeen years. I had an industry pass for the day so instead of just walking up to the regular ticket window we had to go find the guest services desk to get our lift tickets. That wasn’t a big deal and is a small price to pay for getting a free pass for the day. Unfortunately, it meant some extra walking in ski boots. Again, not a big deal for me, but a little tiring for a six-year-old.

First Run

Passes in hand, we headed out to the lifts. My daughter wanted to go straight to the bigger of the two lifts servicing the terrain that I felt was appropriate for her. Instead, I convinced her to start on the smaller lift to warm up. She handled that first run very well and was excited to head to the bigger lift.

Second Run

Off we went to the bigger chair lift and higher terrain. As we headed up she was excited to look around and see the surrounding lakes and mountains. However, I was starting to think, “hmmm…this might be a bit steeper terrain than she’s skied before.” I scoped out what I thought would be the easiest path down for her which was to the left of the lift line.

We got off the lift and turned to the right. At that point we were committed to that direction. Unfortunately, what I couldn’t see from the lift was that while the line I picked was overall the easiest path down, it started with a hard and steep run for about 50 feet. My daughter was excited about it though.

We headed down that first steep section and her skis caught a little ice patch and she fell. It wasn’t a hard fall (she’s fallen much harder on far flatter terrain), but it was enough to scare her. The tears started flowing and were accompanied by “I DO NOT LIKE THIS MOUNTAIN AT ALL! I want to go home!” Through the tears and frustration she got up and we skied back down. The lesson from this run was, what looks easiest from the lift may not actually be the easiest route.

Third Run

By the time we got back down my daughter wanted to go back up the same lift. Now having a better understanding of the terrain off that lift, I agreed that we could do it again. My plan was to take the other side of the lift line down this time.

We got off the lift and headed left to ski the right side of the lift line. I let her lead down the mountain. However, I forgot to do what I always do when teaching ski lessons. That is to give directions on when and where to stop.

As we came to a trail junction I could see she was about to head in a direction that I didn’t want her to go in. So I yelled for her to stop and then skied up next to her. That’s when the tears appeared again followed closely by, “you’re confusing me! You didn’t tell me you wanted me to stop there! This mountain is confusing, I don’t know where we’re going!” The lesson learned on this run was to always give my child directions on where to stop and where we’re going.

We got back down the run without further incident. However, when we got back down, she said she wanted to go home because the mountain was too big and confusing. I suggested we go back to the smaller lift that we started on and then have a snack. She reluctantly agreed to do that.

Fourth Run

This run was incident free and we went to get snacks. Getting snacks was not without incident. My daughter, like many kids her age, gets very nervous in new places. So while I wanted to go inside for snacks and limit walking back to the car (my feet were in pain from blisters I got a week earlier) she didn’t want any part of going inside. Off to the car we went. The lesson here, just carry your kid’s snacks in a backpack instead of leaving them in the car.

Behold the power of snacks and maps!

While snacking it up I got out the trail and lift map. We looked it over and talked about the trails that we thought would be fun. She still wasn’t convinced that she liked “this mountain” so I said, “let’s give it one more try and if you still don’t like it, we can go home.”

After loading up on snacks we headed back to the smaller lift for one more run. I let her lead down the run we had picked while looking at the map. She loved it! Lesson learned: give your kid lots of snacks and a bit of agency over which direction they’re going down the mountain.

Four More Times, Two More Times, Four More Times!

She liked that first run after our snack break so much that she wanted to do it again! At first she wanted to do it four more times. After that she said, “two more times.” After those runs she said, “four more times!” Clearly she was comfortable and happy on that lift and run. If she’s happy on a run, I’m happy on that run.

Timers and Racing Gates

Whenever I ski I turn on the ski tracking function on my Garmin Fenix 5 watch. It tells me the top speed on every run. A couple of weeks ago I used it to track my daughter going 19 MPH on a run. When I told her that she was super excited! Knowing how excited she gets about the speed of her runs, I started reading them out to her at the bottom of each run.

Reading the top speed of each run has become a little game for us. On Monday we played that game and she loved it. She couldn’t wait to tell her sister, mother, the lift attendant, and anyone else who would listen that she went 27 MPH!

Pleasant Mountain, like most corporately-owned ski mountains these days, has RFID tags in their lift tickets. The tickets are actually cards about the same size as a credit card, gone are the days of stickers hanging off a jacket’s zipper. My daughter had never used an RFID equipped card or lift gate before. She loved the beep that the gate made when she put her card next to the card reader. It quickly became a game to see if she could beat me to buzz through the gate.

The lesson learned: if your kid likes games, play games while skiing.

Shout Out to Emma the Liftie!

Lift attendants (lifties) range from old grumps to ski bums stoned out of their minds to young people just trying to earn a living. Then there are people like Emma who seemed to really enjoy working the lift that’s utilized by new and very young skiers. She was smiling every time we went through the lift line, seemed excited to help new people learn to use the lift, and generally appeared happy to be there.

A Long-term Review of Non-Alcoholic Beer

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One of the things that I see trending on social media to start the new year is the “Dry January” challenge. If you’re giving the challenge a try, you may also be considering trying some non-alcoholic beer to replace your usual drink. As someone whose only beer for the last 14 months has been non-alcoholic beer, I think I’m somewhat qualified to offer some opinions on a variety of non-alcoholic brews.

Athletic Brewing

Athletic Brewing is the biggest company solely brewing non-alcoholic beer in the United States. At this point their beers are widely available in grocery stores, beer and wine shops, and I’ve even started to see Athletic Brewing beers in convenience stores. Athletic will also ship to your home. Shipping is free if you spend more than $50 or join their club.

I joined the Athletic Brewing club for a few months for a few reasons. First, I liked the beer. Second, it provided a small discount off the regular price. Third, it gives you access to their limited run beers. I got a few of the limited run beers early in 2022 and liked them, but the ones in the summer weren’t my glass-of-beer. The limited run beer that I liked the best was the Irish Red.

Athletic Brewing’s Irish Red was my favorite of their limited run beers available through their club. Their summer limited edition beers didn’t appeal to me because those were a little too light and fruity for my palate.

Athletic Brewing Run Wild IPA, Free Wave IPA, Upside Dawn Golden, and All Out Stout were the staples in my club subscription box. There is subtle difference between the two IPAs with the Free Wave having a bit of a haze to it, but it’s not so hazy as to feel like you dredge sediment out of it like you can with some west coast IPAs. Upside Dawn Golden reminds me most of the Molson Golden that I used to enjoy while ice-fishing in Socatean Bay on Moosehead Lake.

I always enjoyed good stouts and porters when I was drinking alcoholic beer. Pouring a good stout into my glass then sitting down to tie flies is how I spent many winter nights back before I had kids. A good stout still feels like a little reward at the end of a long winter day. All that to say, Athletic Brewing’s All Out stout hits all the right boxes for me. In fact, it’s the first beer that I poured into a cool new glass that I was given for Christmas.

Athletic Brewing’s Run Wild IPA is a great introduction to drinking NA beer. It’s low calorie, it tastes good, and it’s widely available in grocery stores and online.

Overall, Athletic Brewing’s beers are very good and the All Out stout is my favorite. The beers are widely available in grocery stores and through online ordering to ship to your home. You can learn more about the origins of Athletic Brewing by listening to Ted King’s podcast with Athletic’s founder Bill Shufelt.

Sober Carpenter

I first saw Sober Carpenter in an Instagram advertisement last spring. I was excited to try something else besides Athletic Brewing. Not that Athletic wasn’t good, I just wanted to try something different. Unfortunately for me, Sober Carpenter is a Canadian company so they couldn’t ship to my home in the U.S. (ironically, their headquarters is 100 miles closer to my home than Athletic’s is). So I was very excited when in October I saw Sober Carpenter on the shelf in Bow Street Market in Freeport, Maine.

The Sober Carpenter that I tried was their Irish Red. I would describe it as a solid, but not spectacular beer. To me it seemed to have a bit of a juicy finish to it that some people like, but I only accept with an air of “okay, not bad.” I enjoyed it, but I didn’t run right back to Bow Street to buy more of it.

As I write this I’ve noticed that Sober Carpenter is now available for home delivery in the U.S. via Amazon, but the pricing is about double of what I paid in the store.

Sober Carpenter Irish Red was a solid, but not spectacular NA beer.

Surreal Brewing

Surreal Brewing is a rapidly-growing, family-owned NA brewery in California. I haven’t seen any of their beers on the shelves in stores in my little corner of New England. That said, according to their social media updates, their distribution network is rapidly expanding to include some Walmart stores and other large distributors. While I wait for Surreal to appear in stores near me, I’ll order it online when I want it.

I ordered a variety pack of Surreal Brewing in the early summer and stored it in my cellar because Surreal says their beer is best enjoyed at temperatures between 55F and 65F. It just so happens that rustic 1850 farmhouses like mine have great cellars for storing things like beer and wine in that temperature range.

Surreal Brewing beers have fewer calories than any of the NA beers that I’ve tried in the last 14 months. I have to say that some of their beers definitely taste like they don’t have many calories in them. Surreal Brewing’s 17 Mile Porter has 50 calories. That was the most calorie-dense of all of their beers that I tried. Surreal Brewing’s 17 Mile Porter was also the beer that I liked the best from the variety pack that I purchased. The Kolsch with just 17 calories tasted like it needed another 17 calories to have a real beer taste. The Chandelier Red IPA was good and had a little bit of a juicy finish to it that you’ll like if you’re into that kind of flavor profile.

The story of Surreal Brewing’s founding is a great one. For that reason, I’ll support them by ordering their 17 Mile Porter online and I look forward to finding it on shelves near me in the future.

KIT NA Brewing

KIT NA Brewing is a brewery in Portland, Maine. Their beer is available via online ordering and in stores and restaurants in New England. I bought it at my local Hannaford grocery store.

KIT NA is the most expensive NA beer that I’ve purchased in the last year. It also tastes like the most expensive NA beer that I’ve purchased. KIT NA’s Get Set IPA has a very full IPA flavor profile that reminds me the most of the expensive hazy alcoholic IPAs that I used to buy. If you’re not concerned about calories and just want great beer taste without the alcohol, Get Set IPA is the beer for you.

Woodland Farms Brewery

Woodland Farms is another Maine brewery that is producing NA beer. In fact, they were the first NA brewery in the state. A friend of mine gave me an ice-cold four-pack of Woodland Farms’ West IPA for Christmas. Halfway through my first sip I thought, “where have you been all year?” It was that good!

Woodland Farms doesn’t publish information about the calories in their beer, so I’ll assume that the calorie count for their West IPA is “a lot.” It tastes too good to be low calorie.

Woodland Farms is available for online purchase and delivery to homes in most of the United States.

Grüvi

I tried two of Grüvi’s beers in the early autumn. One of them was very good, the other was downright terrible. Grüvi’s Stout was very good and tasted like it had a lot more than the 45 calories advertised on the can. I would buy it again if it wasn’t sold out.

Grüvi’s Pale Ale was undrinkable. In their defense, when I emailed their customer service to say that the beer tasted like Palmolive dish soap, they did admit that they had had a bad run with one batch of their Pale Ale. They refunded my money for that beer. I might try it again in the future if I come across it in store, but I’m not in a hurry to re-order it online.

Ceria Brewing Company

Ceria is a brewery in Colorado that offers two NA beers for online purchase. When I got the hankering for something a little different this summer, I ordered Ceria’s Grainwave Belgian White. It’s about once a year that I get the desire to have a beer in the Belgian White style. Ceria’s Grainwave hit the spot. When I get the hankering for that style of beer again next summer, I’ll probably order from Ceria again.

Eighteen Twenty Brewing Company

Eighteen Twenty Brewing Company is the third Maine-based NA brewery whose beer I tried in 2022. I first found it at Bow Street Market in Freeport, Maine and have since seen it in other stores. It’s also now available for online purchase delivered to your doorstep.

Eighteen Twenty Brewing Company has three things going for it that make it a winner in my book. First, as a former history teacher, I like the nod to Maine history (Google it if you don’t know the connection). Second, it was started by the same person who owns Geary Brewing Company who produces what was my favorite “classic microbrew pale ale” and still brings of pangs of nostalgia from my early 20’s whenever I think about it. Third, their Peek Interest Pale Ale tastes great!

I’ve only tried Eighteen Twenty’s Peek Interest Pale Ale so far. It has a very clean and crisp finish. It’s the beer that I’m packing with me for apres ski sessions at Mt. Abram this winter. I’m looking forward to trying some of Eighteen Twenty’s other offerings this year.

There’s nothing like the taste of a great beer after a great day of skiing, especially if you earned your turns that day.

Thoughts About NA Beer in General

Every person has a different reason for quitting alcohol for a week, a month, or for good. And everyone has a different trigger that makes them want to grab a drink. Without getting into detail, for me that trigger was always the feeling of relaxing and shooting the breeze at the end of a fun day skiing, riding, or fishing with friends. Having good NA beer options lets me still hang out with some of that crowd without the various consequences associated with drinking alcoholic beer.

Finally, if you’re thinking about going for a Dry January, do it! You just might like it.

Cheers to a great 2023!
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